The Sea of Nightmares
by Mundster Madman
Summary: Sequel to The Trident Thief. Perseus and the gang have spent nearly a year searching for the missing Master Bolt and Helm of Darkness, but haven't found even a small clue. The power of their enemies is growing, and the mortals have adjusted to the failed Mist. Now with Thalia's tree poisoned, and a very angry Zeus, will Perseus be able to save her? Percy/SonofZeus!
1. Prologue

**AN: **Hey there, everyone! I've been stuck on Savage for a bit, so I've been devoting more time into a bit of loose planning for this story, as well as some business stuff, and my own actual book. Fortunately, I'm finally getting back on track with this story. In case you don't know, this is the sequel to The Trident Thief. Please note that I began writing this series before the Son of Neptune came out, so I have several lore breaking characters and concepts, such as two sons of Minerva. If you haven't read that yet, be sure to read it before you read this. Thanks for checking me out! Enjoy!

**Prologue**

**Perseus POV**

"You just need shut up!" Annabeth yelled. Despite all my effort, my temper flared.

"I wasn't the one who started this!" I yelled back.

"You are so insensitive!" Annabeth huffed before storming off. Lightning crackled along the length of my body as I tried to get my anger back under control. Honestly, I didn't have the slightest idea why she had been so mad. Annabeth hadn't been able to get off my back in the last couple of months, and it had gotten much worse in the recent weeks. I have no idea what I did to piss her off. Did I forget her birthday, or something? Wait, when is her birthday? That could be it...

Anyway, it had been nearly a year since we left Camp Jupiter, and neither my party nor Jason's had gotten any closer to recovering the Master Bolt or the Helm of Darkness. I lost my cool several times due to the frustration. The world around us finally began to truly adjust to the presence of immortals in their lives. Granted, the mortals still panic when monsters are around, and they aren't exactly thrilled when demigods are in town either.

Around a few months ago, both quest groups met at Camp Half-blood, where we dropped off the Di Angelos to rest and train under Chiron. If you believed Bianca, she hadn't come nearly as far along as Nico had, but Jason disagreed. I didn't get much of a chance to see for myself, because we only stayed for a day. With Jason's group swinging back to the north, Annabeth, Nick, Marshall and I veered back south.

As time passed, I was continually amazed at both the atrocities mortals were capable of, and of the great kindness. Many times I interceded to stop mortals, some of whom had joined Luke's forces, from robbing innocents. However, nearly as often as I saw evil, I witnessed human compassion fighting back. Mankind had grown desperate, as the unveiling of the "mythological world" shook the planet up. Sadly, many well-developed countries had completely collapsed within themselves, and the economies of several other nations literally vanished over night. Many people believe their wealth was stolen by rival nations, or even private interest parties.

Another large thing that changed and somewhat surprised both myself and Nick was how many mortals returned to worshipping the gods. Annabeth thought it made perfect sense, and the gods were incredibly pleased. Marshall was pretty happy about it, but kept on getting distracted by tin cans and coffee. You wouldn't have believed how he acted when Nick bought him a huge can of coffee grounds. After that, I decided Marshall couldn't have coffee for a month. He ended up getting more coffee the next day.

We wandered throughout the South, passing through towns like Memphis, Tennessee and Little Rock, Arkansas. Currently, we are settled in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and we have been battered nonstop by all kinds of monsters. As of yet, we haven't run into anything "unnatural" like the giant Hellhound, or the bizarre shade on Mount Othrys. We'll see how long our luck will continue.

"Girl trouble?" Nick asked.

"Huh? Oh, yea, well no, well, I don't know. She's been acting weird the past couple of weeks. I'm beginning to wonder if I did something wrong," I said.

"Maybe you did, maybe you didn't. Maybe she isn't even mad at you, and you're just her target. Dude, I'm not going to pretend to understand girls. Don't stress about it too much. If it wasn't Annabeth, I would say you should just ask her, but if she is mad at you, she might try and stab you. She is crazy, I swear," Nick joked.

"I heard that Nicholas!" Annabeth called from across the store.

"There is no way you heard me, kid! Don't even try and mess with me now," Nick replied. I chuckled a little bit, before I walked out of the store and back to the van.

"Hey, Marshall," I said, as I settled into a seat.

"Sup, Perseus," he said with his mouth stuffed full.

"Dude, only eat one cinnamon roll at a time. You're going to choke," I said. Marshall swallowed, and then laughed. I laughed a little with him, then closed my eyes to take a nap. Maybe some dream would guide me.

**AN: **I know it's rough, but I'm just getting back in the swing of things. Anyway, thanks for reading, and be sure to let me know how I did, what you liked, what you didn't like, and anything else you think I should know. I'm a big boy. I can take it. Thanks again!


	2. Recall

**AN: **Hey guys! Thanks for the great reception for the prologue! Now, let's get this show on the road!

**Recall**

**Perseus POV**

"Time to get up, bro. Nick grabbed some biscuits for breakfast," Marshall said. I yawned then groaned as I sat up.

"Ugh, I'm sore," I moaned. I heard someone laugh, and then crawled out of the car.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Nick said.

"Morning," I replied. "Where's Annabeth?"

"Over here, Airhead," she said with a smirk. "Good morning, by the way." I yawned again, then settled down next to Annabeth.

We sat in silence as we ate, until I spoke up. "So, what's the plan?" I asked.

"Well, without any sort of proper prophecy, we can't make any truly effective plan," Annabeth said.

"Is it possible that we could get a prophecy?" Nick asked.

"Maybe, but the Oracle isn't exactly cooperative at all times," Annabeth said.

"Not at all," I mumbled. Silence fell over us again as we thought about the problem.

"I don't know about you guys, but this goat is tired of searching the entire country for these symbols of power. I mean, we finished the prophecy, so what else can we do? All we're doing is attracting monsters," Marshall said.

"Wait, say that again," I said.

"What? All we're doing is attracting monsters? You should know that. After all, almost all of them are after you," Marshall replied.

"No, not that, the thing before that," I told the satyr.

"Oh, you mean we finished the last prophecy, so we can't really do anything else?" Marshall asked.

"That's it!" I yelled. I turned to Annabeth, and then said, "He's right! We finished the last prophecy, and so we need a new one to guide us.

"You're right," Annabeth said. "The prophecy mentioned we would save multiple items, and when the other weapons went missing, we assumed it meant we would retrieve all three symbols of power. But we found Thanatos' scythe, and Poseidon's Trident. We've been fumbling around in the dark. We need to get back to camp soon."

"Well, let's at least stay in town for the rest of the day. We just got here, and I've never been to Baton Rouge," Nick said.

"No, we really should get back," Annabeth said.

"Come on, Annabeth, wouldn't you like to visit LSU?" I asked. Her glare told me otherwise.

"Fine," Nick sighed. "But we're staying until lunch, and that's final." Annabeth grumbled a bit under her breath, but I just chuckled. Marshall seemed supremely excited about lunch, even though we only just finished eating breakfast.

Shortly after that, we all piled into the van and drove farther into town. Nick and Marshall kept pointing out places to eat, and Annabeth sat in the back with me and scowled. Thirty minutes later, I finally got tired of it. "Hey, is something wrong, Wise Girl? You've seemed kind of angry recently," I asked.

"Nothing is wrong," she replied too quickly. I rolled my eyes.

"I suppose it's alright if you don't want to tell me. Just lighten up a little," I joked. "I would like to have my best friend back." She smiled a bit, which relieved me.

Out of nowhere, Nick slammed on the breaks. "Whoa!" he yelled. "Sparky, you will want to see this!" I got up and looked out the front window. My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. Standing in front of the van and in the middle of the street was a massive tank. Several military personnel were barging into houses and dragging people out.

I pulled my helmet out of my bag, and tucked it under my arm as I bailed out of the back of the van. With my left arm cradling my Hellhound hide helmet, I twisted my ring to make _Kismet_, my trusty sword, to appear in my right hand. I sheathed the blade on my hip, and proceeded forward. "Perseus! What are you doing?" Annabeth asked. She had her dagger on her hip and her cap in her hand. Marshall and Nick bailed out of the van moments after her.

"I need to find out who these people are, and what they're doing. I will not stand by and do nothing when innocent people are being treated like criminals," I said viciously. I strode straight to the tank, where the apparent officer in charge was giving out orders and overseeing his troops. I jumped up onto his tank in my Greek armor, which caught his attention.

"Get off my tank, boy," he said with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"That is none of your business, now go play dress up elsewhere," the officer ordered. Lightning thundered across the clear sky.

"You will answer me," I said. "That isn't a request."

"I don't take orders from children," he said. He turned toward me, and truly looked at me. Sparks began to fly as I got progressively angrier.

"I may be a child in your eyes, but I will not be ignored. I am the Son of Zeus, and you answer me!"I shouted. A fierce light took over the officer's eyes.

"Men, arrest the demigod!" He ordered. My eyes went wide briefly, and I jumped off of the tank and backed away.

"Stay back, mortals, I don't want to have to hurt you," I warned.

"Arrest all of them! Including the goat man!" the officer shouted to his troops. A slight growl echoed in my chest as I called a storm forth. Moments later the sky turned menacingly dark.

"This is your final warning! Take one more step toward us, and I will fry you!" I shouted. Some of the soldiers hesitated, but then the tank's turret turned toward me. The soldiers surged forward and surrounded us and the van.

"Great work, genius!" Annabeth said.

"We're not through yet," I said.

"Surrender, demigod, and you will live. Fight, and die," the officer challenged again.

"You picked the wrong demigod to mess with," I mumbled. I called down an incredibly powerful bolt of lightning from the heavens to strike the tank. I didn't want to hurt anyone, but I will not allow these men to harm me or my friends. Large sparks jumped off of my body, electrocuting the nearby soldiers, and dodging around my friends. Soon, many of the soldiers lied on the ground wounded.

The first bolt I directed incapacitated the tank, but the officer seemed to be alive. What few soldiers still stood started backing away slowly. I gestured for my friends to cover their ears, because things were about to get loud. Calling down a tremendous bolt of lightning on myself, I allowed the electricity to flow along my skin, which made me glow.

"Run away, and live," I said menacingly. "You can figure out the other choice." Some remaining soldiers immediately turned away and ran, while others backed away quickly, making sure to never take their eyes off of me.

"What are you?" one of them cried.

"I am the Son of Mighty Zeus, King of the Gods," I declared, punctuating my sentence with a roll of thunder.

After all of the conscious soldiers vanished, I walked back over to the tank where the officer was laying. I shocked him to wake him up. "Are you going to answer my question?" I demanded. He swallowed nervously several times.

"I work for a special division of the government. My job is to capture any and all demigods for study," he said with sweat pouring down his brow. I frowned.

"And have you caught any yet?" I asked sternly. He shook his head vigorously. "Go, and tell your betters that the Olympians will not be pleased by this act of treachery against their children. You are lucky that I am sparing you," I growled. He jumped off the tank and ran off. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair as I scowled.

"This is just great, now we've got monsters and the military after us," Annabeth said. I grunted in assent.

"I need to call Chiron," I said.

"We're out of drachmas," Nick said.

"Great," I grumbled. "We really need to get back now."

"Can we eat first?" Marshall asked.

"No, we'll have to grab something on the road," Annabeth said. Nick and I agreed, which put Marshall in a bad mood.

"Don't worry buddy, I'm sure there's a nymph at camp who would like to keep you company," I joked.

"Well, Rose should be awake now," Marshall mumbled.

"Perseus!" I heard someone yell. I turned to see Chiron and Nico in an Iris Message. "Wait is that a tank?" Chiron asked before shaking his head. "Never mind."

"Hi, Perseus!" Nico said with a huge smile.

"Hey, Nico," I replied. "Chiron, there is something really important we need to tell you."

"And I you," Chiron replied. "You need to return to Camp Half-blood immediately."

"Yes, we know, the government is rounding up demigods, or at least they are trying," I said. Chiron's eyes went wide, which made me more nervous. "You didn't know?"

"No, we did not. You and Annabeth are the only demigods not in camp right now. That is, unless Connor and Travis have snuck out for cokes again," Chiron said. I allowed myself a brief laugh. How did I know he knew about the soda smuggling operation? "No, I'm afraid the true reason for this recall is more pressing."

"What could be more pressing than the military trying to catch demigods?" Nick asked nervously.

"Thalia's tree has been poisoned, and you must return immediately, because the borders are failing," Chiron answered grimly. Annabeth went pale, while I exploded.

"WHAT!? Who did this? I will rip their arms off, just to start!" I growled.

"We don't know, child. Mr. D is on Olympus now discussing it with your father and the council. Return as quickly as possible," Chiron urged. Thunder roared across the Baton Rouge skies as I vented my anger. I turned away and stormed toward the van.

**Annabeth POV**

"We'll be there soon, Chiron," I said.

"Annabeth, dear, you must calm him down," Chiron said. "I will see the four of you soon."

"Wait, me too?" Nick asked.

"Yes, Nicholas. Mr. D has granted you permission to enter the camp, due to your service to Olympus, and after some pressure from Olympus. I pray for your safe journey," Chiron said. Nico waved goodbye, and then the message ended.

Three minutes later, we were heading back to Camp Half-blood as I tried to calm Perseus down. This was going to be a long drive.

**AN: **Well, there you go! First official chapter, right there! Tell me what you think! What did you like? What did you love? What did you not like, or hate? Do you see any mistakes? Be sure to tell me, because I want to put out the absolute best quality material I can for you guys! Thanks for reading!


	3. Writer's Block Notice

**Hey there everyone,**

**I just wanted to let you know that I'm taking an intentional break. I have written tens of thousands of words, covering all of my stories, and I can't figure out where to go from there. I just keep reading over it to proofread, and end up deleting it because it was horrible. I'm sorry, but for now all of my stories are on hold. I will return to writing them the moment I get something written that I feel is good enough for you amazing readers. **

**Now, understand that it is possible that I may post a new story due to a strike of inspiration, but I can't and won't promise that. Once again, I apologize for this.**

**If you have any ideas as to what I do next, please tell me in a PM or review. Even if I don't use it, it will help restore the creative juices in my brain. **

**Thank you all so very much for reading my stories! I will do the best I can to get back on them for you! As I've said before, thanks for being amazing. I love you guys! God bless!**


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